LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 30, 2024) — The University of Kentucky is proud to host the annual College Business Management Institute (CBMI) conference, co-sponsored by the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers (SACUBO). This year’s conference will be held July 21-26, 2024, marking the 71st year of this prestigious event.
Since its inception, the CBMI conference has provided an intensive learning experience for administrators and employees of colleges and universities of all sizes and types. This year, the tradition continues with 73 courses ranging from entry-level to advanced, all taught by distinguished faculty who are leading practitioners in their respective fields. CBMI is excited to welcome 14 new faculty members and offer 23 new courses this year, including three “Refresher Only” courses for those who have already completed their three years of the CBMI program.
One of the new “Refresher Only” courses will be led by Kevin Sisler, UK’s director of treasury services, on the topic of “Leveraging CBMI for Institutional Success,” where graduates will discuss their key takeaways from CBMI that helped them at their various institutions and in their careers. Sisler has been a valuable CBMI faculty member for over 10 years and CBMI is excited for his latest contribution to the program.
“I came to the University of Kentucky in 2008 after spending the first 15 years of my career in the corporate world,” Sisler said. “Higher education is very different, and I knew little about what it took to run an institution of higher education. I attended CBMI starting in 2009 and graduated in 2011. I learned so much about running a university, spanning a vast number of topics including grounds management, auxiliary services, accounting and finance, human resources, marketing, information technology and cybersecurity and leadership, just to name a few. I met new people from colleges and universities across the nation, many of whom I am still friends with today and communicate with regularly.
“In my opinion, there is no better educational conference than CBMI that teaches the foundations of higher education, shaping the future leaders of our nation’s colleges and universities. I loved my CBMI experience so much, I pleaded with the CBMI officials to allow me to become a faculty member. It has been a privilege to have been part of the faculty since 2012, and I love the impact I am making on our future university leaders. This will be a great year at CBMI!”
The CBMI conference is committed to staying relevant by updating content and featuring new faculty and courses each year. This year, they are excited to welcome two new UK employees to the faculty team, Brittany Morgan and Martin Anibaba, who will be teaching a course titled “Strengthening Business Operations Through an Innovative Mandatory Training Program.” Morgan recently presented a similar course on this topic at the SACUBO annual meeting and was the first runner up of SACUBO’s Best Practices Award for FAST: UK’s Right Time, Right Place Finance and Administration Training Program.
“CBMI offers a unique — and local — opportunity for employees to expand their business management knowledge and network with colleagues from across higher education,” said Morgan. “The multi-year structure of the program offers participants the opportunity to select from a diverse offering of courses as their experience equally grows over time. As a participant — and now faculty member — I’ve built fruitful relationships with colleagues from across the country and business acumen to best serve the university for years to come.”
Together, Morgan and Anibaba will help facilitate a deeper understanding of the background, purpose and benefits of this innovative program.
“The bigger our university gets — with its hospitals and clinics, research centers, athletics programs and more, all of which must comply with various federal regulations and industry standards — the more it becomes clear that we are, in fact, not just one business but many different kinds of businesses operating on one campus,” said Anibaba. “So, while our focus may be on educating the next generation, we cannot get away from the fact that, to be successful, we must function like a business. We see constant evidence in the news today of colleges and universities falling victim to fraud, cybersecurity breaches, theft and more when proper business operations are often not prioritized. That is why CBMI is so important, as it helps to cultivate a strong business acumen in our staff and promote greater understanding of all the regulations and policies that affect not only higher ed issues, but all of our operations. UK Internal Audit has found CBMI so impactful that we have been putting our new hires through the three-year program for more than a decade. I cannot recommend it highly enough for every department here at UK.”
Additionally, CBMI is excited to welcome back many more UK employees as faculty teachers at CBMI 2024. They include:
CBMI is also pleased to congratulate the following UK employees who received scholarships to attend the 2024 CBMI conference:
For more information about the courses offered, how to earn a certificate of completion and a complete overview of our schedule and events, please visit cbmi.uky.edu.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It’s all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.
